Performance tuning of IT services

ABSTRACT

Methods and systems are disclosed for modeling the performance of an IT service. The methods and systems take a holistic approach by treating the entire IT service instead of the individual nodes. In one implementation, the methods and systems provide a tool for mapping the performance of the IT service based on throughput and response time data. The tool may then be used to develop a mathematical model for the performance of the IT service. System parameters that may impact the performance of the IT service may be correlated to variables in the model. The model may then be used to predict the impact changes may have on the performance of the IT service. Performance maps for the same IT service may be compared over time to discern any departure from a norm. A database of performance maps may be established for a particular industry to facilitate intra-industry comparisons.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.11/861,273, filed on Sep. 25, 2007, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,069,240,entitled “Performance Tuning of IT Services,” and is related in subjectmatter to, and incorporates herein by reference in its entirety, each ofthe following: U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/861,274, filed onSep. 25, 2007, entitled “Performance Tuning of IT Services,”; and U.S.patent application Ser. No. 11/861,275, filed on Sep. 25, 2007, entitled“Performance Tuning of IT Services.”

COPYRIGHT NOTICE

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains materialthat is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has noobjection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent documentor the patent disclosure as it appears in the Patent and TrademarkOffice patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyrightrights whatsoever.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The disclosed embodiments relate generally to estimates of processorthroughput and, more specifically, to systems and methods for adjustingsuch throughput estimates in processors to account for distortions inmeasured usage.

BACKGROUND

Widespread acceptance of the Internet and proliferation of onlinetransactions and electronic commerce (“e-commerce”) has placedincreasingly greater importance on information technology (IT) servicesand their underlying infrastructure. Businesses rely on these ITservices everyday to conduct an ever expanding array of transactionswith their customers, including banking transactions, credit cardtransactions, investment transactions, and the like. It is thereforeimperative for these businesses to maintain their IT services performingat peak throughput levels and efficiency in order to process as manytransactions as possible. The process of maintaining of an IT serviceperforming at peak throughput levels is referred to herein asperformance tuning.

An IT service for a typical transaction, such as a bank deposit, mayinvolve several pieces of a IT equipment or nodes. For example, theremay be a Web server for receiving a request from a customer over theInternet, an application server for providing a bank deposit applicationto the Web server, a backend server for processing the bank deposit, anda database for storing and updating the customer's records. Each one ofthese servers individually may affect the speed with which the entiretransaction is conducted and, hence, the throughput of the IT serviceand response time for the customer. Similarly, each server may containnumerous components that may affect the efficiency of the server.

Traditionally, performance tuning of IT services involved analyzing theindividual nodes of the IT service. This may include, for example,checking the speed of the processors at each node, the type and amountof memory, the size of the hard drives, and the like. Other factorspossibly affecting the performance of an individual node may include,for example, whether parallel processing may or may not be occurring,any memory and/or disk drive thrashing, and the like. With such an arrayof variables, performance tuning of IT services tended to be a tediousand time consuming process. IT service personnel were often relegated tochanging one variable at a time and observing the impact of the changeon the node. As a result, traditional performance tuning of IT serviceswas largely an iterative process that relied heavily on the use of trialand error.

Accordingly, what is needed is a more efficient way to tune theperformance of an IT service. More specifically, what is needed is a wayto model the performance of an IT service and to predict the impact achange may have on the performance using the model.

SUMMARY

The disclosed embodiments are directed to methods and systems formodeling the performance of an IT service and predicting the impact achange may have on the performance using the model. The methods andsystems rely on elements of queuing theory to treat the entire ITservice holistically instead of as individual nodes. In oneimplementation, the methods and systems provide a tool for mapping theperformance of the IT service based on observed or simulated throughputand response time data. The tool may then be used to develop amathematical model for the performance of the IT service. Systemparameters that may impact the performance of the IT service arecorrelated to variables in the mathematical model. The mathematicalmodel may then be used to predict the impact a change may have on theperformance of the IT service. Performance maps for the same IT servicemay be compared over time to discern any departure from a predefinednorm. A database of such performance maps may be established for aparticular industry to facilitate intra-industry comparisons.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other advantages of the invention will become apparentfrom the following detailed description and upon reference to thedrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 illustrates an example of a single-server queuing system;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary timesharing system that may be used forperformance tuning of IT services according to the disclosedembodiments;

FIG. 3 illustrates performance maps that may be used for performancetuning of IT services in the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 4 illustrates an exemplary system for performance tuning of ITservices according to the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary tool for performance tuning of ITservices according to the disclosed embodiments;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary curve representing a mathematical modelof a performance map according to the disclosed embodiments; and

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary arrangement where businesses mayparticipate in performance map sharing according to the disclosedembodiments.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The drawings described above and the written description of specificstructures and functions below are not presented to limit the scope ofwhat has been invented or the scope of the appended claims. Rather, thedrawings and written description are provided to teach any personskilled in the art to make and use the inventions for which patentprotection is sought. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that notall features of a commercial embodiment of the inventions are describedor shown for the sake of clarity and understanding.

Persons of skill in this art will also appreciate that the developmentof an actual commercial embodiment incorporating aspects of theinventions will require numerous implementation-specific decisions toachieve the developer's ultimate goal for the commercial embodiment.Such implementation-specific decisions may include, and likely are notlimited to, compliance with system-related, business-related,government-related and other constraints, which may vary by specificimplementation, location and from time to time. While a developer'sefforts might be complex and time-consuming in an absolute sense, suchefforts would be, nevertheless, a routine undertaking for those of skillin this art having benefit of this disclosure.

It should be understood that the embodiments disclosed and taught hereinare susceptible to numerous and various modifications and alternativeforms. Thus, the use of a singular term, such as, but not limited to,“a” and the like, is not intended as limiting of the number of items.Also, the use of relational terms, such as, but not limited to, “top,”“bottom,” “left,” “right,” “upper,” “lower,” “down,” “up,” “side,” andthe like, are used in the written description for clarity in specificreference to the drawings and are not intended to limit the scope of theinvention or the appended claims.

Particular embodiments are now described with reference to blockdiagrams and/or operational illustrations of methods. It should beunderstood that each block of the block diagrams and/or operationalillustrations, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/oroperational illustrations, may be implemented by analog and/or digitalhardware, and/or computer program instructions. Computer programsinstructions for use with or by the embodiments disclosed herein may bewritten in an object oriented programming language, conventionalprocedural programming language, or lower-level code, such as assemblylanguage and/or microcode. The program may be executed entirely on asingle processor and/or across multiple processors, as a stand-alonesoftware package or as part of another software package. Such computerprogram instructions may be provided to a processor of a general-purposecomputer, special-purpose computer, ASIC, and/or other programmable dataprocessing system.

The executed instructions may also create structures and functions forimplementing the actions specified in the mentioned block diagramsand/or operational illustrations. In some alternate implementations, thefunctions/actions/structures noted in the drawings may occur out of theorder noted in the block diagrams and/or operational illustrations. Forexample, two operations shown as occurring in succession, in fact, maybe executed substantially concurrently or the operations may be executedin the reverse order, depending on the functionality/acts/structureinvolved.

As mentioned above, the disclosed embodiments rely on elements ofqueuing theory to treat an entire IT service holistically instead of asindividual nodes. Referring now to FIG. 1, a single-server queuingsystem 100 is shown wherein customers 102 wishing to access a server 104to conduct a transaction are placed in a queue 106. The customers 102arrive at the queue 106 at a rate λ that may be expressed as λ=A/IT,where A equals the number of customers 102 arriving in an observationinterval T. Throughput X for the single-server system 100 may be definedas X=C/T, where C is the number of customers 102 who have completed thetransaction. Throughput X is equal to rate λ at steady state. Theutilization U of the server 104 may be expressed as U=B/T, where B theamount of time (e.g., in seconds) that the server 104 is busy servingrequests. The mean service time D per customer 102 may be defined asD=B/C.

If the average number of customers 102 in the system 100 is Q and theaverage time these customers 102 spend in the system is R for eachsystem, then queuing theory states that U=XD (the “Utilization Law”) andQ=λR (“Little's Law”). The distinction between the mean service time Dper customer 102 and the average time R customers 102 spend in thesystem 100 lies in the fact that the amount of time W spent waiting forservice is not included in the former. In other words, R is the sum ofthe time W the customer 102 spent waiting plus the time D he/she spentbeing serviced: R=W+D. The average time R is also known as the “ResponseTime Law.”

A queue length Q can be determined from the above response timeequation, R=W+D, by multiplying R and λ: Q=λW+λD. The utilization U ofthe queue 106 can be defined by looking at the service time contributionof the queue 106, or U=λD, which is another way to measure utilization.This relationship is sometimes referred to as “Little's Micro Law.”Utilization can thus be interpreted as the average number of customers102 in service and is part of the total queue length Q.

The “Response Time Law” may also be defined as R=N/X−Z , where N is thenumber of customers 102 that may request a transaction (i.e., thepossible population of customers 102) and Z is the time betweenrequests, euphemistically referred to as “thinking time.” The thinkingtime Z is essentially an idle time that the customer 102 may spend, forexample, looking at and browsing different aspects of a Web site, and isconsidered outside the confines of the queue 106. Note that theUtilization Law and Little's Law may be applied to both open and closedqueues, whereas the Response Time Law depends on N and thus is onlyvalid for closed queue models. This Response Time Law may be used inqueuing theory to determine the response time in a timesharing system,as discussed below.

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a timesharing system 200 that may beused in accordance with the disclosed embodiments. The timesharingsystem 200 here is a typical single-server queue timesharing system witha CPU 202 and two hard drives 204 and 206, but certainly otherconfigurations known to those having ordinary skill in the art may beused. The number of customers 102 that may request service from thetimesharing system 200 in this example is N=16. Note that each of thetwo hard drives 204 and 206 may also represent a single-server queuetimesharing system. Thus, the Utilization Law and Little's Laws may beapplied to each of these single-server queues in the manner explained inFIG. 1. In a similar manner, a multi-tiered timesharing system in whicha Web server queue is connected to an application server which is inturn connected to a database server queue may also with be representedas a single-server queue.

If several, say n, single-server queuing timesharing systems areconnected together in cascade fashion, then the service time of eachserver may be expressed as D_(i), i ε n. The amount of time waiting inthe queue for each server may be written as W_(i), i ε n. Thus, theaverage response time at each queue may be defined as R_(i)=W_(i)+Di, iε n. The response time of the entire multi-queue timesharing system maythen be expressed as:

$\begin{matrix}{D = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}\; D_{1}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 1}\end{matrix}$

The server with the largest service time may be denoted asD_(max)=max(D_(i)) , i ε n, so that the total service time, excludingtime waiting for service, may be defined as:

$\begin{matrix}{R = {{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}\; R_{i}} = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{n}\;\left( {W_{i} + D_{i}} \right)}}} & {{Eq}.\mspace{14mu} 2}\end{matrix}$

With the foregoing definitions, it is possible to define one or moreperformance maps for the timesharing system 200, for example, using theasymptotic bounds or limits of the timesharing system, as shown in FIG.3. The performance maps in essence define the range of possible valuesthat a point on any performance curve may have for the timesharingsystem 200. In FIG. 3, the graph on the left is a performance map 300 ofthe throughput X and the graph on the right is a performance map 302 ofthe response time R for the timesharing system 200.

Referring to the throughput performance map 300 first, it may besurmised from the above that the best possible throughput for thetimesharing system 200 occurs when there is no queuing at any of theother queues and when the slowest server (highest D_(i)) reaches maximumutilization, or 100%. The maximum throughput is then governed by thislimit and may be denoted as X_(max)=1/D_(max). If a customer 102 arrivesat a multi-queue timesharing system and every queue is empty and thusevery server is available to service the customer, then the totalservice time he/she will experience is D. Thus, after thinking for atime Z, the customer's total response time will be R=D+Z. By Little'sLaw, the queue length Q may be expressed as Q=λR=XR, assuming steadystate. Thus, the throughput X may be expressed as X=Q/R. The maximumasymptotic bound for throughput that may thus be achieved is when thequeue length equals the number of customers in the timesharing system,or Q=N. And when the response time R=D+Z is the smallest possibleresponse time for any customer in the timesharing system, the throughputupper asymptotic bound may be expressed as X=N/(D+Z). At the other end,when there is only one customer in the timesharing system, or N=1, thethroughput asymptotic bound equals X=1/(D+Z). And the absolute worstthroughput that may be observed occurs when the customer 102 arrives atthe queue to find the other N−1 customers already in the timesharingsystem. Here, the customer's response time will be his/her own thinktime Z plus the service times of each of the other customers in front ofhim/her, or (N−1)·D, and the time to service his/her own request D. Thethroughput in this situation may be expressed as X=Z+(N−1)D+D=ND+Z.Thus, using Little's Law once again, the lower asymptotic bound becomesN/(ND+Z). Note that the queue length is being set as Q=N in Little'sLaw, as the bound is determined by assuming all customers are in thetimesharing system.

Referring now to the response time performance map 302, in the worstscenario, there is no think time Z and the customer 102 finds N−1customers ahead of him/her. The customer's response time in that mayscenario then be expressed as R=(N−1)D+D=ND. The best possible responsetime occurs if there is no queuing and thus the total response time of acustomer entering the timesharing system is the mean service time percustomer, or D. Once the timesharing system 200 begins to reach 100%utilization, however, queuing begins to occur. At that point, using theResponse Time Law and setting the throughput at X=X_(max), the remainingresponse time boundary for the performance map 302 may be expressed asR=N/X_(max)−Z=ND_(max)−Z.

In some embodiments, the techniques discussed above for deriving theperformance maps and performance coefficients a, b and c may beimplemented in a performance tuning system, shown in FIG. 4 at 400. Sucha performance tuning system 400 may then be used to fine tune theperformance of various IT services within a company. Any suitablecomputing system known to those having ordinary skill in the art may beused as the performance tuning system 400, including a personalcomputer, workstation, mainframe, and the like.

The performance tuning system 400 typically includes a bus 402 or othercommunication mechanism for communicating information and an processor404 coupled with the bus 402 for processing information. The performancetuning system 400 may also include a main memory 406, such as a randomaccess memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, coupled to the bus402 for storing computer-readable instructions to be executed by theprocessor 404. The main memory 406 may also be used for storingtemporary variables or other intermediate information during executionof the instructions to be executed by the processor 404. The performancetuning system 400 may further include a read-only memory (ROM) 408 orother static storage device coupled to the bus 402 for storing staticinformation and instructions for the processor 404. A computer-readablestorage device 410, such as a magnetic, optical, or solid state device,may be coupled to the bus 402 for storing information and instructionsfor the processor 404.

The performance tuning system 400 may be coupled via the bus 402 to adisplay 412, such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) or liquid crystal display(LCD), for displaying information to a user. An input device 414,including, for example, alphanumeric and other keys, may be coupled tothe bus 402 for communicating information and command selections to theprocessor 404. Another type of user input device may be a cursor control416, such as a mouse, a trackball, or cursor direction keys forcommunicating direction information and command selections to theprocessor 404, and for controlling cursor movement on the display 412.The cursor control 416 typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes,a first axis (e.g., X axis) and a second axis (e.g., Y axis), that allowthe device to specify positions in a plane.

The term “computer-readable instructions” as used above refers to anyinstructions that may be performed by the processor 404 and/or othercomponents. Similarly, the term “computer-readable medium” refers to anystorage medium that may be used to store the computer-readableinstructions. Such a medium may take many forms, including, but notlimited to, non volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media.Non volatile media may include, for example, optical or magnetic disks,such as the storage device 410. Volatile media may include dynamicmemory, such as main memory 406. Transmission media may include coaxialcables, copper wire and fiber optics, including wires of the bus 402.Transmission media may also take the form of acoustic or light waves,such as those generated during radio frequency (RF) and infrared (IR)data communications. Common forms of computer-readable media mayinclude, for example, a floppy disk, a flexible disk, hard disk,magnetic tape, any other magnetic medium, a CD ROM, DVD, any otheroptical medium, punch cards, paper tape, any other physical medium withpatterns of holes, a RAM, a PROM, an EPROM, a FLASH EPROM, any othermemory chip or cartridge, a carrier wave, or any other medium from whicha computer can read.

Various forms of the computer-readable media may be involved in carryingone or more sequences of one or more instructions to the processor 404for execution. For example, the instructions may initially be borne on amagnetic disk of a remote computer. The remote computer can load theinstructions into its dynamic memory and send the instructions over atelephone line using a modem. A modem local to the performance tuningsystem 400 can receive the data on the telephone line and use aninfrared transmitter to convert the data to an infrared signal. Aninfrared detector coupled to the bus 402 can receive the data carried inthe infrared signal and place the data on the bus 402. The bus 402carries the data to the main memory 406, from which the processor 404retrieves and executes the instructions. The instructions received bythe main memory 406 may optionally be stored on the storage device 410either before or after execution by the processor 404.

The performance tuning system 400 may also include a communicationinterface 418 coupled to the bus 402. The communication interface 418typically provides a two way data communication coupling between theperformance tuning system 400 and the network 110. For example, thecommunication interface 418 may be an integrated services digitalnetwork (ISDN) card or a modem used to provide a data communicationconnection to a corresponding type of telephone line. As anotherexample, the communication interface 418 may be a local area network(LAN) card used to provide a data communication connection to acompatible LAN. Wireless links may also be implemented. Regardless ofthe specific implementation, the main function of the communicationinterface 418 is to send and receive electrical, electromagnetic,optical, or other signals that carry digital data streams representingvarious types of information.

In accordance with the disclosed embodiments, a performance tuning tool420, or more accurately, the computer-readable instructions therefore,may reside on the storage device 410. The performance tuning tool 420may then be executed to fine tune or analyze the performance of variousIT services. In addition, the performance tuning tool 420 may be used topredict the impact that a change in the environment of the IT servicesmay have on the performance of the IT services. Such a performancetuning tool 420 may be implemented using any suitable programminglanguage known to those having ordinary skill in the art, includingJava, C++, Visual Basic, and the like. It should also be noted that, insome embodiments, instead of residing on the storage device 410 of theperformance tuning system 400, the performance tuning tool 420 mayinstead be run from a central location on a network.

Referring now to FIG. 5, in one embodiment, the performance tuning tool420 may comprise a number of functional components, including a userinterface module 500, a data acquisition module 502, a performancemapping module 504, and a performance analysis module 506. Otherfunctional components may also be added to or removed from theperformance tuning tool 420 without departing from the scope of thedisclosed embodiments. Note that although the various functionalcomponents 500-506 of the performance tuning tool 420 have been shown asdiscrete units in FIG. 5, those having ordinary skill in the art willunderstand that two or more of these components may be combined into asingle component, and that any individual component may be divided intoseveral constituent components, without departing from the scope of thedisclosed embodiments.

In general, the user interface module 500 is responsible for allowingthe user to interact with the various functional components of theperformance tuning tool 420 as needed. To this end, the user interfacemodule 500 may provide a graphical user interface for receiving inputfrom the user. Such input may include, for example, basic informationabout the user, the systems that support the IT service to be analyzedby the performance tuning tool 420, the location of any data to beacquired by the performance tuning tool 420, and the like. In someembodiments, instead of manual user input, it is also possible forperformance tuning tool module 420 to automatically obtain some or allof this information, for example, from a predefined database containingthe information (i.e., in the case of a repeat analysis). And inaddition to receiving inputs, the graphical user interface may also beused to present the results of the performance analysis to the user.

The data acquisition module 502 may function to acquire the responsetime and throughput data for the IT service being analyzed. This datamay include data represented by one or more of the variables needed togenerate the throughput performance map 300 and/or the response timeperformance map 302 mentioned above. Such data may include, for example,the number of customers N, the service time D, the think time Z, and/orany other data that may be used to derive such data. The data may beactual historical data 508 observed over time, for example, in a test orpreproduction environment, or it may be data 510 that has been simulatedusing a commercially available load simulation pool. An example of asuitable simulation tool may be Mercury LoadRunner available fromHewlett-Packard Corporation of Palo Alto Calif.

Performance maps may then be derived by the performance mapping module504 from the data acquired by the data acquisition module 502. In oneembodiment, the performance mapping module 504 may perform this mappingfunction using the equations derived above with respect to FIG. 3. Thus,the performance mapping module 504 may use these equations to calculatethe various boundaries of the throughput performance map 300 and theresponse time performance map 302. The mapping may also be done, forexample, by plotting the data obtained from the data acquisition module502 to directly map the performance maps 300 and 302. These performancemaps essentially define the performance boundaries of a particular ITservice. Such boundaries allow IT personnel to quickly determine, forexample, when the IT service may be approaching a performance boundaryand to take any actions that may be appropriate.

The performance analysis module 506 may function to facilitate analysisof the performance of the IT service relative to the performance maps300 and 302. In one implementation, the performance map may generate aperformance curve for the IT service using the response time andthroughput data. As with the performance mapping module 504, theresponse time and throughput data used by the performance analysismodule 506 may be data acquired by the data acquisition module 502. Insome embodiments, such data may be a subset of the data acquired by thedata acquisition module 502 for the performance mapping module 504. Inany event, the data used to generate the performance curve may representone implementation or configuration of the IT service. Differentimplementations or configurations may result in different performancecurves for the IT service.

An example of a performance curve for performance is shown at 600 inFIG. 6, where the vertical axis represents the throughput (e.g.,transactions/second) for the IT service and the horizontal axisrepresents the number of customers. Such a curve may be derivedempirically using sampled data, or it may be simulated using anysuitable commercially available load simulator software (e.g., MercuryLoadRunner). By observing the performance curve 600, those havingordinary skill in the art will recognize it is not amenable todescription by a first-order polynomial. On the other hand, a secondorder polynomial, or quadratic equation, may be used, and has beenconfirmed, to completely describe such a performance curve 600. Thequadratic equation is shown below, where the coefficients a, band c arevariables that dictate the specific curvature and shape of theperformance curve 600.X=aN²+bN+c   Eq.3

In accordance with the disclosed embodiments, the coefficients a, b andc of the quadratic equation may derived for the quadratic equation. Thecoefficients may be derived using, for example, linear regressionanalysis or other suitable mathematical techniques known to those havingordinary skill in the art. These coefficients may then be correlated tovarious parameters of the IT service that affect the performance of theIT service, such as processor speed, cache coherency, memory or harddrive thrashing, parallelism, and the like. The performance coefficientsa, b and c may then be modified, and the resulting change to theperformance curve 600 noted, in order to determine the impact that thechange may have on the IT service. Specific performance issues may thenbe deduced from the values of the coefficients a, b and c of thequadratic equation.

In some embodiments, correlating the performance coefficients a, b and cto the various parameters of the IT service may be performed bydetermining which parameters are likely to cause the behavior associatedwith a coefficient. Those parameters may then be attributed to thatcoefficient. For example, the first order coefficient b controls theslope or rate of change at any point on the performance curve 600. Thus,candidate parameters that may be attributed to the first ordercoefficient b may include components or resources that affect the rateat which the throughput at a given point changes when all else stays thesame. These parameters for the first order coefficient b tend to affectthe extent to which the IT service is queuing. An example of a parameterthat may be attributed to the first order coefficient b is speed,including processor speed, memory speed, hard drive speed, and the like.

On the other hand, the second order coefficient a controls the curvaturefor the performance curve 600. Thus, candidate parameters that may beattributed to the coefficient a may include components or resources thataffect this curvature when all else is kept the same. These parametersfor the second order coefficient a are generally associated withcomponents or resources that are shared by other components or resourcesof the IT service. Examples of parameters that may be attributed to thesecond order coefficient a include cache coherency, memory and/or diskdrive thrashing, parallelism, and the like.

The zero order coefficient c generally relates to parameters associatedwith components or resources of the IT service that are fixed as aresult of a particular implementation or configuration. Examples ofparameters that may be attributed to the zero order coefficient cinclude the maximum number of requests that are allowed to be made ofthe IT service. The various parameters that are attributed to theperformance coefficients a, b and c may then be stored by theperformance analysis module 506 to help predict the performanceresulting from a contemplated change to the IT service or to explain anotherwise unexpected performance degradation of the IT service.

In some embodiments, the performance coefficients a, b and c may becompiled and catalogued by the performance analysis module 506 forcomparison analysis. The cataloging may be performed, for example,according the type of IT service, such as database service, bankingservice, directory service, network service, and the like. This data maythen be used as future reference points to detect departures from apredefined standard, and/or it may be used to compare with other similarIT services. In the latter case, a common database may be establishedfor the IT services a given industry to store the performance maps andperformance coefficients a, b and c in order to facilitateintra-industry comparisons, and the like.

An example of the cataloging of the performance coefficients a, b and cfor throughput is shown below in examples 1 and 2 for a number of ITservices. As mentioned above, these coefficients uniquely determine thequadratic equation for the throughput and can be used to assess, forexample, whether the measured parameters are within range with other ITservices of the same type, and the like.

Example 1 System A X Catalogued N (Through- Parameters Sample System(Load) put) a b c Throughput Metrics 10 21 −0.10 3.00 1.00 UDB (recordswritten/sec) 10 21 −0.11 3.10 1.10 ORACLE (records read/hour) 10 21−0.12 3.20 1.20 Vendor A CICS (transactions /sec 10 21 −0.13 3.30 1.30Vendor A IMS (transactions /sec) 10 21 −0.14 3.40 1.40 Network LAN A(bits In/sec) 10 22 −0.15 3.50 1.50 Network WAN A (bits In/sec) 10 22−0.16 3.60 1.60 WebSphere A (Pages/hour) 10 22 −0.17 3.70 1.70 BankChecking (transactions/sec) 10 22 −0.18 3.80 1.80 Bank Savings(transactions/sec) 10 22 −0.19 3.90 1.90 Investment (trades/sec) 10 22−0.20 4.00 2.00 Property & Casualty (updates/hour)

Example 2 System B X Catalogued N (Through- Parameters Sample System(Load) put) a b c Throughput Metrics 10 21 −0.98 3.10 0.90 UDB (recordswritten/sec) 10 21 −0.99 3.20 1.00 ORACLE (records read/hour) 10 21−1.00 3.30 1.10 Vendor A CICS (transactions /sec 10 21 −1.01 3.40 1.20Vendor A IMS (transactions/sec) 10 21 −1.02 3.50 1.30 Network LAN A(bits In/sec) 10 22 −1.03 3.60 1.40 Network WAN A (bits In/sec) 10 22−1.04 3.70 1.50 WebSphere A (Pages/hour) 10 22 −1.05 3.80 1.60 BankChecking (transactions/sec) 10 22 −1.06 3.90 1.70 Bank Savings(transactions/see) 10 22 −1.07 4.00 1.80 Investment (trades/sec) 10 22−1.08 4.10 1.90 Property & Casualty (updates/hour)

In system A, the bank checking IT service has values −0.17, 3.7 and 1.7for a, b and c, respectively. These values may then be compared withother systems (e.g., System B) supporting the same IT service to see ifthey are within range or are significantly different. This comparisonmay allow IT personnel to determine, for example, what areas may achievebetter performance and, hence, where to devote capital and resources,depending on the parameter that is off.

FIG. 7 illustrates an example of a common database 700 that may be usedto store the performance maps and/or the performance coefficients a, band c for IT services of a given industry. Specifically, the performancemaps and performance coefficients a, b and c for the IT services ofbusinesses 702, 704, and 706 may be stored in the common database 700.Of course, the common database 700 may also store other informationneeded to perform the intra-industry comparisons, such as system type,processor speed, type and amount of memory, size of hard drives, and thelike. These performance maps and performance coefficients may then beused to perform intra-industry comparisons of various IT services. Theperformance maps and performance coefficients may be provided for a feeto businesses who do not contribute to the industry database 700 (oreven to those who do), or they may be available free of charge. Aportion or all of the fee may be apportioned among the businesses thatcontributed the industry database 700. Such an arrangement allows thebusinesses 702, 704, and 706 to evaluate how their IT services comparewith those of their peers in the industry. Each of these businesses 702,704, and 706 may also have a local database for storing their ownperformance maps, performance coefficients a, b and c and otherinformation for internal future reference.

While the disclosed embodiments have been described with reference toone or more particular implementations, those skilled in the art willrecognize that many changes may be made thereto. Therefore, each of theforegoing embodiments and obvious variations thereof is contemplated asfalling within the spirit and scope of the disclosed embodiments, whichare set forth in the following claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for mapping a performance of an ITservice, the system comprising: at least one subsystem configured togenerate a performance curve for the IT service, the performance curverelating to a quadratic equation X=aN²+bN+c, wherein a correlates with anumber of resources that are shared by a number of other resources ofthe IT service, b correlates with a number of resources that affect arate at which a throughput of the IT service changes when a number ofother resources remain unchanged, and c correlates with a number ofresources of the IT service that are fixed as a result of aconfiguration of the IT service, and wherein the performance curvedisplays the minimum and maximum performance boundaries for the ITservice.
 2. The system of claim 1, further comprising: at least onesubsystem configured to obtain performance data for an IT service, theperformance data including mean service time per customer and one of:number of customers and thinking time.
 3. The system of claim 2, furthercomprising: at least one subsystem to generate a performance map that isa throughput performance map and the maximum boundary is the number ofcustomers divided by the sum of the mean service time per customer andthe thinking time.
 4. The system of claim 2, further comprising: atleast one subsystem to generate a performance map that is a throughputperformance map and the minimum boundary is the number of customersdivided by the sum of the number of customers multiplied by the meanservice time plus the thinking time per customer and the thinking time.5. The system of claim 1, wherein the minimum and maximum performanceboundaries are derived using elements of queuing theory, the elements ofqueuing theory include one of: Utilization Law, Little's Small, andResponse Time Law.
 6. The system of claim 1 further comprising: at leastone subsystem configured to predict, using the generated performancecurve, a performance resulting from a contemplated change to the ITservice.
 7. The system of claim 1, wherein the IT service is supportedby a single-server multi-queue queuing system.
 8. A computer-implementedmethod of mapping a performance of an IT service, the method comprising:generating a performance curve for the IT service, the performance curverelating to a quadratic equation X=aN²+bN+c, wherein a correlates with anumber of resources that are shared by a number of other resources ofthe IT service, b correlates with a number of resources that affect arate at which a throughput of the IT service changes when a number ofother resources remain unchanged, and c correlates with a number ofresources of the IT service that are fixed as a result of aconfiguration of the IT service.
 9. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising: obtaining performance data for an IT service, theperformance data including mean service time per customer and one of:number of customers and thinking time.
 10. The method of claim 9,further comprising: generating a performance map that is a throughputperformance map and the maximum boundary is the number of customersdivided by the sum of the mean service time per customer and thethinking time.
 11. The method of claim 9, further comprising: generatinga performance map that is a throughput performance map and the minimumboundary is the number of customers divided by the sum of the number ofcustomers multiplied by the mean service time plus the thinking time percustomer and the thinking time.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein theminimum and maximum performance boundaries are derived using elements ofqueuing theory, the elements of queuing theory include one of:Utilization Law, Little's Small, and Response Time Law.
 13. The methodof claim 8 further comprising: predicting, using the generatedperformance curve, a performance resulting from a contemplated change tothe IT service.
 14. The method of claim 8, wherein the IT service issupported by a single-server multi-queue queuing system.
 15. Anon-transitory computer-readable medium computer-readable instructionsfor mapping a performance of an IT service, the computer-readableinstructions comprising instructions for causing a computer to: generatea performance curve for the IT service, the performance curve relatingto a quadratic equation X=aN²+bN+c, wherein a correlates with a numberof resources that are shared by a number of other resources of the ITservice, b correlates with a number of resources that affect a rate atwhich a throughput of the IT service changes when a number of otherresources remain unchanged, and c correlates with a number of resourcesof the IT service that are fixed as a result of a configuration of theIT service.
 16. The computer-readable medium of claim 15, wherein theinstructions further cause the computer to: obtain performance data foran IT service, the performance data including mean service time percustomer and one of: number of customers and thinking time.
 17. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein the instructions furthercause the computer to: generate a performance map that is a throughputperformance map and the maximum boundary is the number of customersdivided by the sum of the mean service time per customer and thethinking time.
 18. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, wherein theinstructions further cause the computer to: generate a performance mapthat is a throughput performance map and the minimum boundary is thenumber of customers divided by the sum of the number of customersmultiplied by the mean service time plus the thinking time per customerand the thinking time.
 19. The computer-readable medium of claim 15,wherein the minimum and maximum performance boundaries are derived usingelements of queuing theory, the elements of queuing theory include oneof: Utilization Law, Little's Small, and Response Time Law.
 20. Thecomputer-readable medium of claim 15, the instructions further causingthe computer to: predict, using the generated performance curve, aperformance resulting from a contemplated change to the IT service.